Rope started gasoline engines commonly come in two and four cycle models and are widely applied to lawnmowers, edgers, outboard motors, tiller motors, air compressors, and so forth. Anyone who has had the opportunity to utilize one of these devices knows first hand that frustration often accompanies the starting or non-starting function and that often times considerable strength and endurance is required to crank a balky engine into operation.
To my knowledge, the only attempt to relieve this particular problem is a rubber conically shaped attachment for a power drill which is used to engage a conically shaped recess located on the terminal end of a crankshaft. This system has a number of significant drawbacks which include non-reliability of the frictional gripping engagement; great force is required on the drill to maintain engagement; a bulky redesign of the crankshaft end is required and the system lacks a positive drive.
In rope started engines, the rope is about three feet in length and is wrapped around a spring based spool mounted on a crankshaft. The spool carries a spring member which is tensioned as the rope on the spool is pulled and which rewinds the rope on the spool when the pull on the rope is released. The spool is keyed by a one-way clutch to the crankshaft so that a pull on the rope engages the clutch and rotates the crankshaft for self ignition of the engine. When the engine fires up, the crankshaft rotates free of the spool by virtue of the free wheeling clutch.
The problem is that rope started engines are sometimes difficult to start and often time require strenuous efforts and exertion.